GlobalWebIndex - B2B Social Media Strategy - Research Report - 2011

S O C I A L S T R A T E G Y F O R B 2 B M A R K E T I N GA global research report exploring Social Media adoption of B2B decision makers and the power of social marketing channels

Welcome to Social Strategy for B2B MarketingThis report utilises the five completed waves of GlobalWebIndex research covering 27 markets and 100,000 surveys to provide the most detailedoverview to date of how the business to business (B2B) decision maker engages in social media and which social communications really influencesales. Through interviews with over 17,000 B2B Decision Makers there is a clear picture of the importance of social media to effective B2B business,marketing and sales strategy: SOCIAL MEDIA BEAHVIOUR B2B COMMUNICATIONS • ONLINE CONVERSATIONS ARE SEEN AS MORE INFLUENTIAL THAN FACE TO FACE MEETINGS B2B DECISION MAKERS ARE • CO-ORDINATED SOCIAL MEDIA THE MOST ENGAGED SOCIAL STRATEGY IS ESSENTIAL MEDIA USERS ON THE PLANET • FOR TWITTER AND BLOGS TO ACROSS ALL MARKETS DRIVE SALES, THEY NEED TO CREATE CONVERSATION AND PROMOTE PEOPLE • FACEBOOK WILL WORK FOR B2B

“B2B buyers are the mostsocially engaged online users across the world”

The are far more motivated by social activitiesMotivations to get online > Global > Wave 5 (June 2011) • Research for work is the second Stay up to date on news/events highest motivation to get online for Research for work Research/find products to buy business decision makers; research Research how to do things and find products to buy is third. Stay in touch with friends Networking for work • Networking for work is far more Education important as an online activity for To get inspired/get ideas business decision makers than it is for Entertainment non-decision makers. Find music Find films/TV shows • The internet serves a critical role in Express myself keeping business decision makers up Update my friends with my life to date on current events and news. Fill up spare time Share my opinion • Senior business decision makers are Share content Other particularly keen to use the internet to Organise my life promote their products, ideas, Senior decision maker Promote something opinions, etc. Meet new people Decision maker Play games • What is more crucial is the dominance Take on a different personality of social motivations, such as sharing Change other peoples opinions content, promoting something etc Change other people’s opinions 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% How important are each of the following reasons for you to use the internet? (% of each segment stating that activity as very important for them when getting online; Wave 5 June 2011)

BDMs are significantly more active in social mediaOnline Activities > Global > Wave 5 (June 2011) Decision Maker Senior Decision Maker Watched a video clip Used an aggregator 80% Used Webmail Average Internet User • Firstly, they are much more active online Subscribed to an Used internet and are more likely to undertake all of the 70% RSS feed banking various internet activities. 60% Written a news Purchased a product story/article online 50% • Both senior and non-senior decision 40% makers are far more likely to be uploading Used a social Reviewed a product bookmark service or brand online photos online, comment on stories, use 30% Q&A services, managed their own 20% websites, upload a video, use microblogs, Used VOIP/online Managed social phone 10% network profile etc. 0% Used a • In short, business decision makers at the Uploaded photos microblogging service online global level are much more likely to be content creators and therefore, influencers Edited/managed Used Instant online. own website Messenger • These activities, however, can vary largely Uploaded a video Posted on a by market, and these differences in online forum/BBS behaviour need to be taken into account. Written your own Used online office blog applications Asked or answered Commented on a a question on a Q/A story service Bought an offer on a group Which of the following have you done online in the past month? (% segment penetration of each activity; Wave 5 June 2011)

And continue to grow more quickly than the average userChange in penetration of social network activity from Wave 1 (July 2009) to Wave 5 (June 2011) Managed social network profile Used a microblogging service Uploaded a video online Used online office applications Senior Decision Average Social Media Activity Done in Last Month Decision Makers Internet User Makers Used VOIP/online phone Commented on a story Watched a video clip 0.0 1.3 2.1 Edited/managed own website Market Average Uploaded photos online -0.9 -1.7 1.5 Watched a video clip Senior Decision Makers Decision Maker Managed social network profile 18.7 8.5 14.6 Used Webmail Used internet banking Written your own blog 1.0 5.4 0.3 Uploaded photos online Edited/managed own website 5.2 4.2 2.9 Used an aggregator Uploaded a video online 3.0 2.3 5.2 Written a news story/article Subscribed to an RSS feed Used a micro blogging service 17.5 3.9 9.6 Written your own blog Used Instant Messenger -10.0 -5.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 Which of the following have you done online in the past month? (percentage point change in % penetration of each activity by segment; Wave 1 July 2009 to Wave 5 June 2011)

And yes Facebook, works for B2B Decision maker Senior decision maker Non-decision makers 81% 80% 75% 54% 57% 46% 45% 53% 39% 43% 41% 32% 34% 46% 31% 18% 23% 11% 16% 20% 8% 14% 17% 8% 10% 14% 6% 9% 16% 5% 9% 12% 4% 2% 3% 1%On average, how often do you visit the following websites/services? – On a daily or weekly basis(percentage point change in % penetration of each activity by segment; Wave 1 July 2009 to Wave 5 June 2011)

B2B decision makers are the most active social media consumers on the planet. This is the case in all markets, where they lead average internet users. Social media should be an integral part of all B2B marketing and sales activities Decision makers are growing their usage more quickly than senior decision makers. The need to integrate will only increaseOpportunities Monitoring current trends is critical to develop an understanding of where your buyers will be tomorrow The diversity of online activity by market is a limitation to implementing a global strategy and opportunities will need to be tailored locally

“Conversations online, are more influential to drive sales than face to face meetings”

Conversations in Social Networks drive more influencer than traditional communications Conversations with people from the company/organisation on a social network • The leading influence for decision making is “conversations with people Sales presentations from the company / organisation on a social network. This underlines how Advertisements in traditional media (e.g. TV, Newspaper) important Social Media in B2B marketing Direct Mailings with product/company infomation • The low score for blogs, corporate Adverts in relevant trade press entertainment and micro-blogging profile, underline how important it is Webinars for B2B marketing to create and engage in conversations, regardless Conferences of channel Branded communities created by the company/organisation • Conversations online outrank all “traditional” marketing channels Corporate events/entertainment Decision Maker including sales presentations, advertisements, direct mailings and Senior Decision Branded community/group inside a social network service you use adverts in traditional press Maker A blog created by the company/organisation • Senior Decision Makers, place more emphasis on face to face meetings, The microblogging profile of a company/organisation (e.g Twitter) while the broader decision maker segment favours conferences and 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18% communitiesWhen purchasing products/services for your business or department, which of the following sources most influences your decision?Wave 5 – All Decision Makers: 2,945

Most markets prefer online conservation to face to face Most emphasis on virtual conversations • In order to summarise the impact of conversations online, we Australia created the “virtual selling index”. This is calculated simply Spain using the following: Argentina • % of Decision Makers who score “Conversations UK Japan online” as influential MINUS % of Decision Makers Brazil who score “Sales Presentations” as influential Philippines Hong Kong • This provides a simple metric to understand the impact of Italy virtual conversations on the B2B buying process China USA • The interesting insight here, is that markets that have very France levels of social media engagement such as Turkey, Saudi Germany South Korea Arabia and Singapore have a far stronger preference for face Canada to face meetings. This demonstrates that local culture and South Africa business practice will always need to be considered in context Russia with social media engagement Malaysia Netherlands • The second key insight, is that markets such as Australia, Poland Japan, Italy, USA and France, that have lower levels of overall India Indonesia engagement in social media in the market, have a stronger Mexico preference for online conversation. Most emphasis on Sweden face to face meetings Singapore Saudi Arabia Turkey -40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20%When purchasing products/services for your business or department, which of the following sources most influences your decision?Wave 5 – All Decision Makers: 2,945

“In the majority of markets, online conversations are more valued than face to face sales meetings. This is a massive indication on the power of social media and its importance in B2B marketing and sales” “The fact that branded blogs, and micro-blogging (Twitter) profiles are not valued as a silo, demonstrates that its not about platforms, but people. Twitter, Facebook etc should showcase people and just brand to be effective in B2B sales. It also shows the need for fully realised social strategy”Key Insights “Traditional activities are still valued, social media should not replace or supplant them, but integrate them, to drive more conversation online” “It is vital to consider local market context. If your market is still very focused on face to face selling, then it will make sense to integrate social media as a supporting strand, but not the main element of your activity”

Get the full reportOver 70 slides of detailed insight from The quantifiable evidence on consumersurveys of 17,425 B2B Decision Makers internet adoption and proof that socialbenchmarked against the full data set of media investment is critical to B2Balmost 100,000 surveys. Data covers business, marketing and salesdetailed usage of internet platforms,social media, mobile and the power of A proven framework for planning,B2B communications developing, and executing a B2B social media strategy based on hard evidence andAccess to all the data in an excel package not opiniondelivered to the specified buyer on request,including detailed cuts by all 27 marketsthat we cover, category of work, seniority Buy Now:and company size http://globalwebindex.net/report-One data / insight request from the page/b2bsocialmediareport2011/GlobalWebIndex consulting team as part ofthis report package To pay by bank transfer / credit card over the phone, please call:Full support for queries on the data andtrends 0044 2077 363 169The opportunity to leverage the world’smost detailed research ever conducted into Or mail:online behaviour and social media againstindustry leading strategy expertise to deliver globalwebindex@trendstream.netcritical insights into planning and executing (quoting reference: SMBIZ)a B2B social media business, sales andmarketing strategy

E X P L O R E T H E D A T A globalwebindex.net globalwebindex@trendstream.net

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GlobalWebIndex - B2B Social Media Strategy - Research Report - 2011

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GlobalWebIndex - B2B Social Media Strategy - Research Report - 2011 — Presentation Transcript